Belt and method of making same



Sept. 15, 1936. P, B REEVES 2,054,359

BELT AND METHOD OF MAKING SAME I Filed Oct. 13, 1955 INVENTOR.

ATTORNEYS Paul 5. Reel e5,

Patented Sept. 1 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT DFFICE Paul B. Reeves, Columbus, Ind., assignor to Reeves Pulley Company, Columbus, Ind., a corporation of Indiana Application October 13, 1933, Serial No. 693,473

4 Claims.

The present application relates to a belt and method of making the same; and more particularly to a V or edge-active belt of the type used in connection with V pulleys, and more particularly in connection with the well known Reeves type of variable speed transmission.

The primary objects of the invention are to construct a belt which will be more efficient in the first instance, and which will be of longer life than belts of the same general character which have been in use heretofore.

Further objects of the invention will appear as the description proceeds.

To the accomplishment of the above and related objects, my invention may be embodied in the form illustrated in the accompanying drawing, attention being called to the fact, however, that the drawing is illustrative only, and that change may be made in the specific construction illustrated and described, or in the specific steps stated, so long as the scope of the appended claims is not violated.

Fig. 1 is a transverse section through a finished belt;

Fig. 2 is a plan View showing the arrangement of the various elements in one step of the process of making a belt in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 3 is a transverse section through a block after the same has been separated from the ribbon shown in Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a perspective of a finished block before attachment to the web; and

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of one complete segment of a finished belt.

In the past, belts intended to be used in connection with Reeves transmissions brave been made up of a web ill having secured to the opposite faces thereof a series of blocks H and another series of blocks l2, said blocks extending transversely of said belt and being arranged in parallelism spaced longitudinally of the belt. The longitudinal section of each block H is an isosceles trapezoid, the non-parallel sides 53 and H! of which lie in the end faces of the block and are projected beyond the lateral edges of the Web l0. Similarly, the longitudinal section of each block' I2 is an isosceles trapezoid, the nonparallel sides of which lie in the end faces of the block. In assembling the blocks H and 12 with the web It, each block I2 is positioned immediately below, and in parallelism with, a block H; and the end faces I! and I8 of each block I2 constitute substantially continuations of the end faces l3 and 14 of a corresponding block ll.

The blocks l l and 12 are usually made of wood, and wood does not have a satisfactorily high coefficient of friction on steel. Therefore, it has been common practice to provide the end faces of the blocks H and i2 with pads of friction ma- 5 terial, such as leather, or the like. In Fig. 1, such a pad i5 is applied to the face I3, a pad I6 is applied to the face M, a pad I9 is applied to the face IT, and a pad 20 is applied to the face l8. Said pads l5, l5, l9, and 2! are secured to the respective end faces of the blocks H and I2 by initially gluing the same in place, and thereafter further securing the same by means of nails 2! having heads 22 which are necessarily sunk in sockets 23 in said pads. Obviously, the nail heads 22 must not be flush with the outermost surfaces of the pads l5, I6, I9, and if those pad surfaces are to become friction surfaces cooperating with metal pulleys. It has been found that the pads cannot be effectively 20 secured tothe block ends by means of any known glue, alone; but must be further secured thereto by means of nails, or the like.

It has been said that the face I! is substantially a continuation of the face l3, and that the 5 face 13 is substantially a continuation of the face [4 after assembly of the blocks H and I2 with the web it. It is practically impossible, however, to make this alignment absolute; and furthermore, the operation of securing the pads IS, IS, I9, and 29 to said faces often results in distortion of said pads; wherefrom it follows that the outermost faces 24% and 25 of the pads l5 and IS are not truly in alignment, and the faces 26 and 2? of the pads it and Eli are not truly in alignment. Consequently, it has been necessary, in practice, to perform a final machining operation, after the belt has been otherwise completed, whereby said faces l and 25 of all of the pads l5 and i9 are brought into absolutely proper relation; and whereby the faces 26 and 2'? of all of the pads l6 and 26 are brought 7 into absolutely proper relation.

This machining operation is inevitably accompanied by tWo distinct disadvantages. First, it' necessarily reduces the thickness of material between the faces 24, 25, 26, and 21 of some of the pads and the heads 22 of the securing nails 2|; whereby the life of the belt is reduced. Second, it removes from many, if not all, of the pads, large portions of the hair side of the leather; and it is well known that the untrimmed hair side forms'the best possible leather friction surface.

I have discovered that, whereas there is no known glue which will, unaided, satisfactorily of a trough (not shown).

hold the pads I5, I6, I9, and 28 to the wooden surfaces of the blocks I I and I2, the glue which is ordinarily used to aid in holding said pads to said surfaces will, unaided, hold further leather pads 28 and 29 securely on the outermost faces of thepads I5, I 6, I9, and 20. My invention, therefore, contemplates the application of a pad 28 to the outer surfaces 24 and 25 of each pair of pads I5 and I9, and the application of a pad 29 to the outer surfaces 26 and 21 of each pair of pads I6 and 28; said pad 28 bridging the space between the pads I5 and i9, and said pad 29 bridging the space between said pads I6 and 20. Because it is not necessary to use nails, or other securing means, to hold the pads 28 and 29 in place, said pads 28 and 29 are not distorted after application to the organization; and because said pads 28 and 29 are not distorted, and because they are applied to surfaces which are absolutely aligned, it is not necessary to machine the outermost surfaces of said pads 28 and 29.

Consequently, the two above-mentioned disadvantages are overcome by my invention. The

thickness of material between the frictionsurfaces and the nail heads 22 is greatly increased by the use of the pads 28 and 29. 'And the untrimmed hair side of the leather is thus made available as a friction surface, throughout the length of the belt.

The structure of my invention has a further advantage. Because of the fact that the pads 28 and 29 bridge the spaces between the pads I5 and I9 and between the pads I 6 and 20, respectively,

the effective friction surface of the belt is somein any desired manner, I prefer to follow the hereinafter described process. 7

Two strips of Leather, or the like, 38 and 3| are supported, respectively, upon the opposite walls Blocks I2, previously formed to desired shape, are preliminarily coated, on their opposite ends I1 and I8, with a suitable glue; and then are deposited upon the strips 30 and 3|; the faces I! of said blocks contacting the strip 38 and the faces E8 of said blocks contacting the strip 3|. Because of the converging relation of the faces I1 and I8, and because the adjacent faces of the strips 39 and 3| are positioned in similarly converging planes, said blocks will be supported in this position. As shown in Fig. 2,

" the blocks I2 are arranged in parallel spaced re Y between the blocks I2; whereby there are formed a plurality of units indicated in Fig. 3, each comprising a block I2 having secured to its opposite.

ends rectangular pieces 32 of leather.

Thereafter, the leather pieces 92 are trimmed to conform to the cross sectional shape of the blocks I2 or II to which they are secured; and nails. H are driven through, and punch-sunk in, said leather pieces to aid in securing the same to the blocks. Thereby, units such as that illustrated in Fig. 4 are formed. A series of such units is then attached to each surface of a web ID, preferably by means of bolts may be trimmed, and the belt then reversed to trim the pads at the other end. This trimming operation may be performed upon a single drum, or upon two spaced drums of smaller diameter, the belt extending partially around each of the two drums.

In any case, the trimming operation results in bringing all of the outermost faces of the leather pieces on one edge of the belt into a single conical surface; and bringing all of the outermost facesof the pads on the other edge of the belt into an other single conical surface.

Thereafter, in any suitable manner, preformed pads 28 and 29 are glued in place upon the pads I5 and I9 and the pads I6 and 20. This'glui'ng operation may, if desired, be performed in troughs similar to the troughs used in initially securing the blocks I2 to the strips 30 and 3|.

I claim as my invention:

1. A V belt comprising a web, a series of transversely-extending blocks secured to a face of said web, a pad of leather secured to each transversely-facing end of each block, nails securing said pads to said block ends, and a piece of leather secured solely by an adhesive film to the1outwardly-directed face of each of said pads;

2. A V belt comprising a web, a series of transversely-extending blocks secured to a face of said web, a pad of leather secured to each transversely-facing end of each block, nails securirg said pads to said block ends, the outwardly-directed faces of all of said pads adjacent the same edge of said belt being shaped to correspond to a conical surface, and a piece of leather secured solely by an adhesive film to the outwardly-directed face of each of said pads.

3. A V belt comprising a web, a series of transversely-extending blocks secured to a face of said web, a pad of leather secured to each transversely-facing end of each block, nails securing said pads to said block ends, and a piece of leather secured to the outwardly-directed face of each of said pads, the untrimmed hair-side of each of said last-named pieces being exposed.

4. A V belt comprising a web, a series of transversely-extending blocks secured to a face of said web, a pad of leather secured to each transversely facing end of each block, nails securing said pads to said block ends, a second series of blocks secured to the other face of said web, the blocks of said series being positioned in correspondence with the blocks of said first series, a pad of leather secured to each transversely-facing end of each block of said second series, nails securing said pads tosaid last-named block ends, the outwardly-directed faces of all of said pads adjacent the same edge of said belt conforming to a single conical surface of predetermined curvature, and a piece of leather secured to and bridging the outwardly-directed faces of corresponding pads on each corresponding pair of blocks in said two series. 7

PAUL B. REEVES. 

